DP’s cat has started pooing indoors

[NancyIris]

DP moved in a month ago - his cat moved in the week before to miss out on disruption of packing etc. In living room only to start with, litter tray in corner, then gradually had the run of the house - got used to being with our cat - outside after 3 weeks. Consistently pooing outside for the last 10 days, then suddenly inside these last couple of nights. In the spot where the litter tray was in the living room, but on the floor. It’s totally grim!
Will wee outside no problem.
Vet has said to put litter tray back, but then will we always have a cat that poos indoors?? I hate that the living room smells of cat poo!!
How to encourage him to poo outside? He does wee out there ...
For context he is approx. 14 and a bit fat and lazy but fairly active. Gets on pretty well with our cat (age 3 and active).

Get the tray back. Would you rather have poo in the tray or on the floor?

Better in the tray than on the floor obviously. There is be a reason he’s started going in the house, could be bullying, or medical given his age. Get him checked at the vet.

If you have a cat you have to be prepared to have a litter tray (or three). Cats often don't want to toilet outside for a whole host of reasons, particularly as they age, or seemingly for no reason at all. When he uses the tray just get rid of the poo, then your living room won't smell of poo.

Thanks all. Do you really need to offer both litter tray and cat flap all the time? Our cat always goes outside. Did not want to go back to having a litter tray in the house if possible. We will if we have to, of course. But I don’t really understand how he will ever be motivated to go outside if we put litter down?

My 2 cats decided by themselves to start doing the toilet outside. The tray is still there but they mostly choose not to use it. You have only had the cat for a short period of time so maybe he needs longer to decide where he prefers to poo.

When I used to have an outdoor cat she stopped toileting outside as she got older and went back to using a tray (after an initial period of pooing on the floor). In fact even after I put a tray down she spent six months weeing and pooing on the floor next to the tray before finally using the tray.

Tray back down and hope as the two cats get really comfortable with each other and the warmer weather comes, it'll solve itself.
Perhaps see if there's a way to incrementally move the litter tray towards the cat flap too.

Poo from your own cat in the living room is annoying.

Poo from someone else’s cat in my garden is 1,000 times so.

All hail, your pooing in the house cat!

You don't motivate cats to poo outside by not providing a litter tray unfortunately. They decide they don't want to use one and you can put it away.

@NancyIris

Thanks all. Do you really need to offer both litter tray and cat flap all the time? Our cat always goes outside. Did not want to go back to having a litter tray in the house if possible. We will if we have to, of course. But I don’t really understand how he will ever be motivated to go outside if we put litter down?

That's really not how it works unfortunately. Cats aren't motivated to toilet outside due to lack of litter tray - they'll only go outside if they feel safe and comfortable doing so and your DP's cat clearly doesn't.

Part of cat ownership is having a litter tray and cleaning up after them. Yes, cat poo smells but just get a good quality litter and scoop the poo immediately - the smell won't linger once it's been disposed of. Hooded trays also help with smells but not all cats like to use them.

Many outdoor cats don't feel comfortable going outside and IMO all cats should have access to litter trays in the event of bad weather or illness. Many also become scared of going outside because of an incident with another cat or a loud noise that has frightened them.

My cat did the same when I moved in with my partner. We put the litter Trey back inside. After 2 months or so he started to go outside again and we were able to get rid of the litter tray.

Do you really need to offer both litter tray and cat flap all the time?

You have to be prepared to should it be necessary - and whether or not it becomes necessary is up to the cat. So in this case the answer is yes.

Cats will poo and wee where they think they are meant to.

We have our tray in the hall by the toilet and change the litter daily.

Your best bet is to put a litter tray somewhere sensible, not in the lounge! But by your own toilet. Then you'll have to discourage the cat from doing his business in the lounge and take him to the tray when he's about to go. This will work but you have to be aware the cat is a living being and has their own idea of what's going on. They think they're doing the right thing so need to guide them.

Get one of those litter trays that are covered sort of out of sight but cat can still use the tray when needed .

Huge tray
Cats Best Litter (££ but worth it)

I would worry if he was being bullied outside ?

Our cats ( have a microchip cat door) sometimes bolt inside ruffled by an intruder cat in their garden.
They always use their tray , often wander in, pooh/pee , wander out .

Always clean it first thing/last thing and when we know they've used it